Free Windows Software for Web Developers?

Posted by mdrisser on 2009/09/27 under Development | Be the First to Comment

I recently began learning ASP.NET to expand my Web Development repitoir and consequently began searching out blogs about ASP.NET. In my search I’ve stumbled across several posts about a new Microsoft initiative to help small web design and development firms and freelancers.

WebsiteSpark is an initiative by Microsoft that aims to help these small firms and freelancers by providing some Microsoft software free of charge for 3 yrs. What’s in the offering?

• Windows Server 2008 Web Server (R2 when available) – 4 processor license, production or development
• SQL Server 2008 Web Edition – 4 processor license, production or development
• Visual Studio 2008 Professional – 3 licenses
• Expression Studio 2 or 3 – 1 license
• Expression Web 2 or 3 – 2 licenses

Eligibility requirements are pretty easy:

• A professional service firm whose primary business is providing Web development and
  design services for its clients, with
• no more than 10 members (including owners and employees)

They do have a few other requirements:

1. You must deploy a new and publicly accessible website developed using the software within 6 months of enrollment
2. You must report it and any new websites through the WebsiteSpark Portal
3. You will be prompted to join the Microsoft Partner Network (MPN) during the enrollment process
4. A USD $100 fee is due when you exit the program.

I signed up today and am supposed to be contacted within the next 3 business days, I’ll provide a review after I’ve been accepted and have a chance to work with the software.

If you don’t want to go this route, but are interested in learning ASP.NET or .NET in general, you can also download free (Express) editions of the Visual Studio software as well. These include Visual Basic 2008 Express, Visual C# 2008 Express, Visual C++ 2008 Express and Visual Web Developer 2008 Express.

I recently began learning ASP.NET to expand my Web Development repitoir and consequently began searching out blogs about ASP.NET. In my search I’ve stumbled across several posts about a new Microsoft initiative to help small web design and development firms and